Tony Stark's POV
Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.
- James A. Baldwin
"You. You are in a lot of trouble."
I stomped into the room as Sam looked up at me, startled. She was in the living room with Janet, Natasha and Pepper, sitting in front of the fireplace; she held out her hand and lit the logs in it on fire. Pepper stoked it, ignoring me and instead nudging Sam with her shoulder.
"Gimme a moment, Tony," Sam said, turning away as I stood there, fuming. "I - I have to burn this."
She held up a brown journal, flipping through it one last time. The pages were covered in handwriting that I recognized as Sam's; she looked back at me, smiling sadly. "This is the journal I kept while I was in Rome." And with that, she turned at threw it into the fire, watching it go up in flames.
Janet put her arms around Sam, hugging her tightly from the side. "'No one even knows how hard life was; I don't even think about it now because, I finally found you.'"
"What's that?" Natasha asked, her stare transfixed on the burning book.
"Lyrics from a Lana Del Rey song," Janet chirped. "I thought it fit the moment."
I cleared my throat; Pepper sighed and turned back to look at me. "Look, Tony, we're too busy for a selfish rant. Burning Sam's journal is our way of helping her say goodbye to all the bad stuff that happened in Rome." Sam clung tighter to Janet. "She just needs some girl time, okay?"
"How did you even get here?" I scrunched up my nose.
Pepper frowned. "I flew in after the attack yesterday. Decided you might need some of my assistant skills to get through the coming weeks."
"Oh," I said, deciding not to admit that she was probably right.
Sam suddenly let out a tiny little scream and lunged out of Janet's arms, towards something just behind Natasha. She sat back with her cat Trooper - which had unfortunately been living at my place for the past while - nestled in her arms.
"Hello, my pretty little kitty! Look how big and fluffy you are! Mommy's so sorry she left, but I love you so much, and you're so cute, my fuzzy little fluffball of love, aren't you just the cutest little kitty-cat to ever exist, my little bum, I'm sorry I left but I'm back now and Mommy loves you and I missed you, did you miss me?"
A while ago, Steve had adopted Sam's cat when it looked like the poor animal had to be put up for cat-adoption. Thor had been taking care of the cat ever since, although even he had never gone all insane on it like Sam was now doing.
"There's an Avengers meeting in the dining room," I sighed angrily, pointing. Natasha and Janet got up and hurried off; Pepper took the cat from Sam and promised to take care of it while Sam was included in the meeting. I smiled tightly and gave Pepper a kiss on the cheek, trailing after Sam. All the other Avengers were already in the room, seated around the big dining-room table; Sam took the empty seat beside Steve, who couldn't hide the smile on his face when he looked at her.
"Okay, so," I started over. "You two are in a lot of trouble." Sam and Steve both looked up at me, looking worried and confused - it was them that I was talking to.
"Look at this," I held The Daily Bugle up and shook it in front of their faces. "LOOK."
"Tony, we can't see it if you keep shaking it like that," Sam snapped, grabbing my hand and trying to calm me down. I ripped my hand away, and threw the newspaper in her face. Pages flew everywhere, and Steve scrambled to pick them up.
"You two," I scrunched up my nose, "made FRONT PAGE. Your stupid kiss made the front freaking page of every newspaper around!" I threw up my hands. "It should've been me on that front page, should've been Iron Man saving the world's ass once again, not two dumbasses making out-"
Sam burst out laughing, and I leveled a glare at her. She ignored me.
Steve gently took the paper from her, laying it out so everyone could see. On the front page of The Daily Bugle was a grainy cell-phone shot of Cap and Masquerade, kissing right after the battle and once they had been reunited.
"Someone recorded the whole damn thing," I crossed my arms over my chest, "on their iPhone, and the video's gone viral. It's already got over 14 million views - in just one night."
The battle in Central Park had been just yesterday, and we had barely gotten a second to rest since - even though we had planned to get shawarma, that had fallen through and we hadn't yet had it for various reasons. Firstly, we had to help the fire department put out the fire in Central Park. Then, the clean-up crews of the park required our assistance. Afterwards, the hospital got their hands on us - treated everyone for injuries and bruises and the like. Finally, Fury had dragged us all on board the Helicarrier for debriefing. We hadn't seen each other since then - everyone had returned to Stark Tower after their personal interviews and crashed, sleeping in bathtubs (Clint) or wherever there was a horizontal surface. Now, we had finally called our official Avengers Assemble meeting. But I was too busy ranting about the damn newspaper to get started.
"What's on the videotape?" Bruce Banner asked meekly, wiping his face with a hand cloth.
I sighed. "Hey JARVIS, project that vid of Cap and Masquerade onto the wall, will you? The one on YouTube?"
"Yes, sir," JARVIS responded automatically, and the blank wall in the room suddenly came to life with a YouTube video.
The video was crappy quality - taken from an iPhone - but it showed the scenario well enough. Cap and Iron Man were standing in the middle of a crowd of civilians, talking things over. Suddenly, Masquerade burst into the clearing, and then in the blink of an eye, she was in Cap's arms and they were making out. The video zoomed in on their embrace as bystanders began clapping and whistling; Sam pulled away, blushing, and looked at the crowd. But Cap put his lips back on hers, and they continued to kiss until I broke them up.
The video shut off, and everyone turned to stare at Steve and Sam. Steve had an incredibly awkward expression on his face, as if he was a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. And Sam's entire face had turned tomato-red, except for the puckered scar near her hairline, which turned white; she had sunk so low in her chair that I could barely see her face.
"Ahem," I coughed. "AS I WAS SAYING, you two idiots," I sat down in my chair and kicked them underneath the table, "made the front page. It should've been me on that page-"
"Are you jealous?" Sam started laughing again, pushing herself back up in her seat.
I forced a smile. "There was a WAR going on, Sammy, and the newspaper put you two on the front, rather than the fact half of Central Park burned down and a bunch of robots tried to take over! Now, what's up with that?"
"Maybe the public's getting tired of bad news all the time. They wanted something . . . happier, for once," Natasha cut in. "A little bit of light - of hope - to focus on."
Janet, who was sitting beside Sam, pulled the newspaper over to her. "Don't be ridiculous, Tony," she chided. "They have many articles about the battle," she flipped through the paper. "Look, here's Iron Man's picture, he's on page 3-"
I tried to grab the paper back, but Janet held on, leveling a glare. She pulled it back towards her, and folding it back up, she began to read aloud the front-page article, which was titled LOVE DURING A WAR:
Word travels fast in New York City. You didn't have to be there to know about the robotic army that attacked Central Park late yesterday afternoon - to know about the fire, and about the appearance of the Avengers.
But not every story from yesterday was one of destruction.
No one can expect to find love on a battlefield. It's viewed as a weakness; a liability. Something that can be used against you. Captain America knows this: he was a soldier, back in the Second World War. His work as the Star-Spangled Avenger has always been strictly professional.
Until now.
Yesterday, our country found out that even through a time of war - even through battles and blood - love can be found. And maybe, it can make you stronger.
Take Masquerade, for example. Yesterday afternoon, not even ten minutes after the battle was officially over, she was still fighting teeth-and-nail. What for? For Captain America.
"Of course I remember her. How could I forget?" one bystander, an elderly man by the name of Stan Lee, commented to a reporter. "I was standing right here outside the park, watching an argument between Iron Man and Captain America, when suddenly Masquerade came barreling through the crowd. People were panicking, thinking that something was wrong," Lee remembers, chuckling. "She was screaming for Cap, trying to get his attention. And Masquerade was paying no attention to the people around her - she was just running through the crowd full-speed. Nothing could've stopped her."
The rest of the story was caught on camera: Masquerade ran into Captain America's arms, and they shared a kiss that now the whole nation's watched.
"It's inspiring," Lee said. "To see love blooming on a battlefield. To see that even through all the chaos, there can still be a moment of serenity."
Captain America, a young man in his early twenties, was the only success of a Super Soldier project back in World War II. He fought HYDRA, a Nazi deep science division, and defeated the Red Skull. Cap worked with the American army, with the Howling Commandoes, and with the Invaders before being placed in cyrogenic state - but not before he made himself a symbol of hope for the United States. Almost exactly a year ago, he was brought back to life and helped form the new superhero team, the Avengers.
Not much is known about Masquerade. Experts and analysist say she's young, possibly not even out of her teens yet. Before yesterday, she had only ever made one public appearance: during Loki's attack on New York City. People believed she was a one-time superhero. But because of her role in the battle yesterday, civilians are beginning to doubt this. Masquerade seems to be a full-time Avenger.
And she's proven that even the mightiest can fall.
Before the kiss she shared with Cap, they both seemed untouchable. Captain America, especially: he's a living legend. We can look up to him, we can cheer for him, but we can't relate with him.
It's different now. When he kissed Masquerade, it changed what people thought of him. He's human, now - he can fall in love with a girl, just like the rest of us. He may go out in a mask and save our lives, but behind the scenes, he's got his own. Cap isn't always Cap. Sometimes, he gets to go out on the streets dressed as a normal man, living a normal life. We've lost sight of that.
Experts believe that their kiss has done wonders for the nation. It's given us a renewed sense of hope: Cap and Masquerade are just like us; they fall in love just as easily. But it also gives our country a means of escape.
We're tired of grieving. We're tired of mourning. And this kiss is the light we need, to focus on the good and forget about the darkness we've just passed through. Just like the Avengers, it's something for us to cheer for.
Another symbol of hope.
"Well, that was incredibly cheesy-" I started to say, when Sam suddenly threw herself on Steve's lap, a dry sob escaping her throat. Everyone turned to stare as Steve slowly wrapped his arms around her, his face flushing.
Even I stayed silent as Sam buried her face in his chest, seemingly trying to collect her thoughts and find the words to speak. Finally, she looked up, still clutching Steve's shirt fabric tightly in her fists.
"I want to start by saying I'm sorry," she said softly, looking us each in the eyes. "I won't say I made a mistake by moving to Rome, because I honestly don't think I did. But - I thought I didn't have a choice. I thought that I was being forced to become Masquerade," she sighed. "So I forged a new path for myself by moving to Rome. I don't like following orders, so moving to Rome was my way of rebelling."
She took a deep breath, and Steve tightened his arms around her. "I love it there, I really do. But I fell upon some . . . tough times," she shifted awkwardly. "It made me re-think everything. Like, maybe I did have a choice in being the hero or not. Obviously I did, because I quit," she forced a dark chuckle. "But I . . . Well, I'm Masquerade," she held up her wrist tattoo for everyone to see. "It's like my motto. 'Everyone in life is wearing masks; pretending to be someone they're not. Everyone is always lying.' I was just . . . trying on different masks."
Steve took her wrist in his hand; ran his finger over the word "Masquerade". "And I think I finally realized that there's only one place where I don't have to wear a mask, and that's here, with you guys. It's with Steve," she admitted, wrapping her arms around his neck but continuing to stare down each of the Avengers in turn. "And I'm going to be completely honest: I'm coming back. But not to fight. I mean, I will fight and all, but - but I'm coming back for Steve," she took a deep breath.
"Janet, it's like that Lana Del Rey song you make me listen to," she snapped her head around to stare at the black-haired woman. "'This is what makes us girls, we all look for heaven and we put love first. Something that we'd die for, it's our curse.' I guess I'm putting love first," Sam stared down into her lap. "I mean - I'm so grateful, Tony, for the opportunity you've given me. All the money you've spent. And I'm going to go back and finish my courses," she continued to look down. "But I'm done. I finally know what I want to do with my life, and that's to come back here and fight alongside you guys. I mean, that's so long as you'll take me back - I totally understand if you don't want me here, since I kinda ditched and-"
"Don't be ridiculous," Natasha, of all people, snapped at her. "Of course we want you back. Don't even try and talk yourself into thinking otherwise." Everyone stared at Natasha, surprise in our eyes. Let's face it, we had all thought she was going to reject Sam's apology. "What?" Nat shook her head.
She turned to Sam, who was still staring at the ground and curled up on Steve's lap. "You're still a kid, Sam. You make more mistakes than the rest of us. But we forgive you because we know you were just trying to find yourself. Figure out who you were. And finally it seems like you've gotten the memo," Nat rolled her eyes. "All in favor of letting Sam re-join the Avengers as Masquerade?"
Everyone put up their hand, but all eyes turned to Steve, who hadn't moved. He was staring down at Sam, thinking things through carefully.
"Can't we try and go back to the way we were?" Sam asked him under her breath, staring at the picture of Masquerade and Cap kissing, on the front of the newspaper.
Steve raised his hand.
There was a loud commotion as Clint and Thor both jumped up to hug Sam. She shied away from them at first, but eventually melted into the big group hug, a relieved smile playing across her face. Then Thor began squeezing her a bit too hard, and everyone was ordered to sit back down. Sam stayed in Steve's lap, keeping her hands entwined with his and just enjoying the simple fact that she could touch him again.
I cleared my throat, standing up. "Annnnnnnd now that we've dealt with that couple," I swung my head around to stare at Hank and Janet, "we have to deal with this couple."
There was a long silence.
"Allinfavorofaddingthemtothet eam," I said all in one breath, shooting my hand up. All six of the other Avengers' hands went up instantly, as well - even newly-added Sam's, which was a welcome sight to see.
Janet stood up, squeaking, as a shocked expression passed over Hank's face. "OMG, honey, we've officially Avengers!" she squealed, bouncing up and down. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you this is going to be AWESOME!" she ran around the table, giving everyone a kiss on the cheek.
"Ooh, we're going to be such good friends, we can have Girls' Day all the time now!" she said excitedly to Natasha, who instantly looked like she regretted her vote. "But - but, I think we should include Pepper. Every successful team has someone working behind the scenes! We can be our own little girl-power team of Avengers. The Femmes Fatales!" Jan was practically shrieking.
"Okay, honey, come sit down," Hank stiffly got up to control his wife. "Tony, I - I don't know what to say."
"It's all right, Janet's been saying it for you," I grumbled. "My ears will be ringing for the next three weeks."
"Uh, sorry," Hank flushed. "But wow, guys, really. Thank you. I'm looking forward to getting to work with each and every one of you-"
"Okay, Hank, cut the crap, we actually have important stuff to talk about," I faked a smile.
"Ha!" Steve cried, pointing at me. "You're doing it again!"
"Doing what again?!"
Clint sighed. "It didn't take Steve long to figure out which of your smiles are fake, Tony. We call it his Stark Bullshit Detector."
"Why is the first I'm hearing of this?" I blinked.
"Because we're good at keeping secrets," Clint snickered. "Tasha, you owe me forty dollars - I told you it would take Tony more than three months to catch on."
"He didn't catch on, Steve gave it away," Tasha grumbled.
"Okay, okay, back to business," Bruce interrupted, trying to keep the peace.
Sam sighed loudly, a wide grin splitting her face. "God, it's good to be back."
Bruce ignored her. "Okay, so Ultron and the Mandain are MIA. S.H.I.E.L.D's checked out the factories on Terra Street, and although they've confirmed that was indeed where the robots came from, the Mandarin and Ultron are long gone by now. So we're back to square 1."
"But Bucky's back," Steve interrupted. "The Winter Soldier. He - he regained his memories. He's my old friend Bucky from World War II, but he ran off. So he's MIA, too, but no longer a threat, I think," he said softly.
"He could still be a threat, even though you claim he's got his memories back; he could relapse as the Soldier-" Tasha said.
"No! He's fine. Bucky's back," Steve glared at her darkly. "If we find him, we need to bring him in for therapy or something. He just needs help to get better, that's all. I'm not giving up on him."
There was an awkward silence; Bruce cleared his throat. "Fine, we'll search for Bucky under the pretense that he's not a villain anymore," he mumbled. "And do we have any leads on Ultron and the Mandarin? Anyone?" The whole team was silent.
"Just as you thought, Doctor, back to square 1," I sighed. "They've lost the Soldier - but I highly doubt that Ultron's done. We need to find this terrorist; crack down on him. Put him in custody. This war - it's far from over."
"But that is not the only battle we are fighting," Thor spoke up. "Have you forgotten Loki, my brother?"
"Thor, Loki's back in Asgard, serving his punishment or whatever," I waved my hand absentmindedly.
"But he was not working alone. I told you: there was something else, pulling my brother's strings. Someone who has not given up yet. I fear we may face yet another threat from Asgard, if not the rest of the universe."
"Great, so we have to deal with Ultron, and a bunch of aliens?" Clint rolled his eyes.
"We've really got our work cut out for us!" Janet chirped. "Thank gosh you've added us to the team - you'll need all the help you can get!" I stuck my tongue out at her.
"Ew, more aliens," I leaned back in my chair. "And robots. Aliens and robots. Why can't we be fighting butterflies or flowers or something?" Suddenly, I sat up straight, startling everyone at the terrible tone of my voice. "Guys," I said.
"We forgot to get shawarma."
"Sam, go talk to Thor about cats or something," I said, strutting up to Sam and Steve, at the front of the pack. We were walking to the shawarma place; our big group of nine. But I wanted to talk to Steve alone, so I detached her from the soldier and shoved her off in the general direction of Janet, who I knew would keep her occupied.
Steve looked over at me, that familiar crease forming between his eyebrows as he stared in confusion. I smiled; he held his finger up and shook it in my face.
"Stark Bullshit Detector. That's a fake smile, Tony. What do you want?"
I dropped the false grin off my face and faced forward, walking briskly until I was out of earshot of the other Avengers. "I just wanted to check in with you, Rogers," I said. "I know this is completely uncharacteristic of me, but honestly, you're a friend. Practically a brother. And I wanted to make sure you're okay."
Steve blanched, probably not expecting that.
"We've had enough guy talks over the past year for me to actually care about you," I huffed, a bit peeved. Steve chuckled slightly, and I shot him a look to make him shut up.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he shrugged. "Why?"
"You're a team member. If you go insane, the rest of us will follow suite."
"But why do you think I'd go insane?"
I looked over at Steve, who suddenly appeared so small and helpless beside me (although in all honesty, he was anything but). ". . . Sam."
"Oh," he looked down.
"I just wanted to make sure you're okay with her returning and all."
"Yeah, I think I am," Steve said softly. "It'll be a change - again. And it's kinda tough, just taking her back like it's no big deal." He looked up. "But I'll be okay. I've mi-"
"Well, I can see you've been busy during the past year," someone suddenly said, appearing beside Steve. He had The Daily Bugle out in front of him, and was staring at the front page - Cap's kiss with Masquerade. "Good to know you're still charming the ladies. Wait, still? How did that slip in there? I used to be the lady charmer. You were always just invisible."
I looked over at the man walking beside us, squinting as I tried to figure out who it was. Long brown hair hidden under a New York Yankees baseball cap, dark sunglasses, a crappy tourist sweatshirt . . .
"Bucky!" Steve exclaimed, practically shouting; he stopped in his tracks, but Bucky grabbed him by the elbow and forced him to keep walking.
"Nice to know you've found someone," Bucky continued to stare at the newspaper. "Another superhero. Same girl who attacked me, right?"
"That's - that's Masquerade-" Steve couldn't stop staring at his old friend.
"Huh. She your new partner? You go around battling HYDRA agents with her now?"
"Bucky, I - no. What? Wait, you - you're thinking I've replaced you," accused Steve.
I cleared my throat, reminding both men that I was there.
Steve shook his head, trying to clear it. "Okay, um. Bucky. Good to see you're still around," Steve laughed, suddenly giddy. "But - but I think you need to come in. Make sure your memories are back and you know what's real and what isn't. All that stuff. Tony can - he can do it. Get you back to . . . to the way you used to be."
"Thanks," Bucky said, and it actually sounded heartfelt. "But I'm sorry, Cap. I think I need to spend a little bit of time of my own first. I'll come in . . . when I'm ready. I need to come to terms with things first. It's doubtful I'd be entirely welcome, considering the things I've done . . ." he looked at me glaring at him.
"Bucky . . ." Steve trailed off.
"I just thought I should let you know, Steve," he pulled his baseball cap lower on his head. "Before I say goodbye. I won't be seeing you for a while."
Without another word, Bucky melted back into the bustling New York City crowd without a trace.
Steve stared around open mouthed, but he was nowhere to be found. I coughed awkwardly; Sam sidled up between us.
"Who was that?" she asked curiously, looking at the crowd anxiously.
"Bucky," Steve began to smile. "He's okay, Sam. He's alive."
She scratched her head awkwardly. "Yeah, sorry about hitting him so hard yesterday . . . Can I meet this guy?"
But Steve just started laughing. "He's alive!" he cried, happy. He picked Sam up, lifting her off her feet and swinging her into the air.
"STEVE! Put me down!" she chided, a scared tone in her voice as Steve kept laughing.
"He's alive, Sam. He's back. And he's got his memories . . . And I've got you back, too . . . I'm just happy . . ." Without putting her down, Steve kissed her on the mouth.
Sam panicked; kicked out and caught him on the knee. I began to laugh as Steve grunted, putting a now-very-angry Sam back down on the ground. "Sorry, sorry," he apologized.
"It's gonna take you two a while to get used to each other again, huh?" I snickered.
Steve spread his hands wide. "I'm happy, Tony, for the first time in a while. I have Sam back - and I have Bucky back. After passing through almost a year of suffering . . . I'm happy. Everyone's come back to me. Things are finally starting to work out."
"It's always darkest before the dawn," Sam shrugged.
"Things are gonna be okay, Cap. I told you," I clapped him on the back. I'll admit it: it made me happy to finally see Steve happy. He was too serious: that was his flaw. Steve never smiled; he always carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. He liked to take care of other people's problems. So to see him happy - more importantly, to see him smiling - was a milestone. It really meant the times were changing. Things were going to be okay. Screw the robots and the aliens - we finally had a Cap that wasn't putting himself through hell.
But even through the ups and downs of the year - God knows we've had a lot of them - I don't think I would've changed a thing. Even Sam's disappearance has affected us somehow; changed the course of our destinies. And it makes me wonder: am I on thiis earth to live my own life; to fulfill my own destiny? Or am I here to help someone with theirs? Am I a part of their life, or are they a part of mine? We're all just beings, playing a role in someone else's story. It's only the lucky ones that get their own story.
And this may just be the narcarisstic side of me talking, but I'm pretty sure I've got my own story. I think each of the Avengers have their own. That's what makes us special; makes us different. Why we're the people we are and why our lives are so strange. Because none of us exist simply to further someone else's story. Each of us - from Sam to Steve to Janet to Clint - each of us has our own destiny.
You know. If you even believe in that sort of crap.
Author's Note: Yes, there is a sequel. Yes, you can find it in my profile already. Yes, it is called Silver Flames. And yes, the story ID is 8611294.
Thanks to everyone so, so much for reading this story. The support has been overwhelming, and I honestly don't know how to thank you guys - I could not have dreamed of better readers. Every single one of you makes this worthwhile; makes it enjoyable. And a special thanks to the spectacular reviewers - you guys keep me going, inspire me, brighten my days . . . I don't know what I would do without you all. Thank you for sticking with me throughout the whole thing :D
Last reminder, I don't own anything. And a special thanks to those wonderful last reviewers: Laurafxox, HikariAmuJackson, roxxirox, Guest, Lady Firewing, cucumbersrockursocks, ClarinetRox88, LunaTheLoneWolf, brandibuckeye, Astrokinetic, erica . phoenix 16, scott6130, Beautifully Tragic Girl, GoForTehGig, ShadowRealmTriforce, Hope's Survival, and CeffylGwyn! Thanks to everyone for all the compliments, and for all the advice. But most of all, thanks for reading and enjoying!
So, here's to the last chapter of Silver Smoke. Can we make it to a final 400 reviews? Please just let me know what you thought of the book - and then follow me over to Silver Flames to continue Sam and Steve's story! I certainly hope to see you all there - there's a lot more SamxSteve romance and fluff, I promise, and a great new villain ;) And, you never know, maybe Loki will make his reappearance!
For the last time - READERS ASSEMBLE! And thank you all :D